When the Snow Falls
by dearhumanity
Summary: Children's friendship begin as quickly as the snow falls down.


Requested by slytherinsin on Tumblr. I'm usually not an 'Article' shipper, but decided to go with how they first met. Enjoy!

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><p>Artemis had always liked the cold. While most people were together in the warmth and safety of their homes during winter, she would go out and sit on her apartment steps and watch the snow slowly drift down from the sky. When she was young, she though it was a gift from God, that the delicate flakes were a sign of how he was with her.<p>

Artemis hadn't believed this in years. The once unquestioned faith of a six-year old girl had been replaced with a painful reality. How could a god allow such terrible events to happen to a helpless creature? Her mother in prison, her sister had left, her father was a monster.

What had she done to deserve this?

She looked out the window where soft flurries were floating down her street. The calendar on her cold, metal desk told Artemis that it was Christmas. Not that it mattered, she hadn't received a gift for years, and the holiday did not have the sentimental value to her that it did for other children her age. For most kids ten years of age, they'd spend the night waiting for Santa Claus, who Artemis had been told came to visit all the good boys and girls on December 25th. When she'd found this out, she asked her father why Santa never brought her presents.

He had simply looked over at her and said, "You don't deserve a present. What would make you think you're a good girl?"

Her train of thought was interrupted by a snowball thumping against her window. And then another. After the third one, she scrambled off her bed and threw open the glass. A tall, pale boy was standing outside of her apartments, with another snowball in hand.

"Would you stop?" She said, yelling in a quiet way to keep her father from hearing.

"Come outside. Come outside or I'll throw this snowball at you." He threatened, arm already back as if he was aiming for her.

Brow furrowing, she stared at the strange boy. "Why?"

He grinned and shrugged, "It's snowing, why else?"

Artemis turned to the door; her father had been busy away with a project for the past hour and would most likely be for the rest of the night. Looking back at the boy, she decided that going outside wasn't that much of a risk, and put on her light jacket hanging from the door. Tip-toeing back to the window, the boy was still there waiting. "C'mon slow poke!" He stuck his tongue out at her.

No one stuck their tongue out at Artemis Crock, and if they did they usually regretted it. She squeezed out the window and began to climb down the fire escape. When she finally walked up the boy, Artemis discovered that he wasn't just pale, but that he was a light shade of blue.

You're blue." She stated, blinking a few times to make sure she wasn't just seeing things.

"Yup." He replied, smiling at her confusion. "Dad says it's because I'm better than other people."

"You aren't better than me." Artemis said, hands on her hips. "My father's been training me for years."

"Well then I challenge you to a snowball fight!" he cried out, flinging the snow he'd been holding into her face. She didn't flinch, for that's how she'd been taught, and her father had done much worse than frozen water.

His smile wavered as she didn't respond to his attack, and he suddenly sensed that he should apologize. Everything went deadly quiet, and it had stopped snowing, as if the flakes were too nervous to fall down on the scene.

"Sorry..." He mumbled, looking down at the ground. She kneeled down to the ground and started to sniffle, and he felt awful, wringing his hands and biting his lip. _I might've just messed up being friends with her. _He thought to himself.

She was still on the sidewalk, mop of hair covering her eyes, but the sniffling had stopped. He lightly placed his blue hand on her shoulder, "Don't be sad, I-I'm sorry." She looked up at him, with an oddly suspicious grin on her face.

He had failed to notice the ball of snow she had formed, and she yelled "Don't worry, I'm not!" throwing it into his face and then running off towards the park down the ice-covered street.

"Hey, no fair! You cheated!" He exclaimed as he chased after her.

They spent the next hour in battle. Snow flew constantly back and forth as the two threw ball after ball at each other. Finally, the boy called for a truce.

"What's wrong," Artemis teased, "You tired already?"

"Nah, just thought you might wanna take a break." He stuck her tongue out at her before falling onto his back and making an angel. She joined him.

Looking out into the dark night, the boy began to hum. It was sweet and calming, and reminded her of Mother.

_I should be going home soon. _Artemis thought, for she had spent more time outside then she had expected. _Hopefully Father hasn't realized yet that I'm gone._

But she felt safe and content with the nameless blue boy that lay next to her, and did not want to go back to her hell of a home. They stared out at the cloudy sky, silent for the most part, and it began to snow again.

"My name's Cameron by the way." He threw the words out, breaking the silence.

She didn't respond. Her gaze fixated on the night sky, and the white flakes falling to the ground. The wind howled, and the bare tree limbs swayed along in perfect timing.

"Do you have a name?" He pressed her, trying to get something out of her. It didn't seem to be working, for she ignored him. Eventually he got frustrated, or bored perhaps, for he sat up and looked at Artemis, as if trying to read her mind.

She stared back, and finally spoke. "Do you think that there's a god, out there, watching over us?" It was completely random from the situation, but it was something she'd been wondering for a long time. "Father doesn't believe so. And neither do I, I think."

Cameron peered deeper into the face of this strange girl. "I don't know, I've never been to church. But my mother used to say 'Things happen for a reason, even the bad stuff.', and that's all I'm certain of."

Pondering this, Artemis decided it was a good enough answer.

"I should go home now." She said suddenly, standing up. Her bottom was numb from the cold.

"Do you wanna hang out tomorrow?" Cameron asked, scrambling to his feet. "We can make an igloo or go ice-skating or go sledding!"

She bit her lip, unsure of what to do. She was afraid of how her Father would react if he discovered her new friend, yet enjoyed this boy's company. He'd shown her how to have fun. He'd made her feel, normal. Grinning, all she said was, "Perhaps.", before skipping back towards her apartment. He yelled out, "I don't know your name!" which echoed down the street.

As she was about to climb up the ladder back to her room, she cried out;

"Artemis, my name is Artemis!"


End file.
